Stress and Smells
by Katherine A. Jones
Summary: There are only two people left in the Common Room in the late night and emotions are running high. Perhaps a confession is in order. Jily. T for language (I mean, it's past midnight, what did you expect?).


**Hey everyone! Today is the ever wonderful Claudia Crazyfangirl's birthday and I decided that she deserves a birthday present, despite the heartaches she's put me through with some of her Jily stories. **

**Her Prompt: I especially love James/Lily late night Common Room endeavors. I don't know, they always appeal to me... You know, something angry, fiery, but at the end of the day, sweet.**

**I hope I met your expectations, Claudia, even though I know my stories will never be as good as yours.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>There were only two people left in the Common Room at 2 a.m. on Tuesday night. Or was it Wednesday? Either way, James Potter and Lily Evans were <em>not<em> happy campers.

Lily sighed once again and James almost tore his hair out.

"Stop doing that! That's the one hundredth sigh in the last hour and I can't take it anymore!" James roared.

Lily looked up and glared at him, snapping, "Well, it's not my fault! If I didn't have all of this History of Magic homework, I would be in bed! Why Professor Binns can't hurry up and figure out that he needs to stop teaching, I don't know, but if he doesn't figure it out soon, I'm going to scream! I swear that if he's still teaching when my kids are here, Dumbledore and I are going to have a problem."

James snorted, "Speak for yourself! All of the work that Slughorn gave us is driving me up the wall. Why do I even need to know the properties of this stupid love potion? I want to be an Auror. Knowing that it smells like whatever you're most attracted to isn't going to help me when I'm hunting down a Death Eater! At least you can bullshit that essay."

Lily blinked in surprise, her anger momentarily cut short, "Is that how you got it done so quickly?"

James gave Lily an incredulous look, "Um, duh? I've been doing that since first year and I've never gotten a bad mark."

Lily hesitated, "But what if I get a bad mark?"

"Jesus Christ, Evans! Who the fuck cares?! It's _History of Magic_! Any employer that's been to Hogwarts in the past 5 _centuries_ is going to know why you got that mark – if they even look at it – and isn't going to give a shit! They'll probably just laugh at memories of their own marks in that class."

"That's not the point! I have to get good marks," she said, the last sentence quieter.

James rolled his eyes, "Why? Because you need to be perfect?"

Lily glared again and hissed, "No. I don't need to be perfect."

"Then why do you care?!"

"Because of Petunia, that's why!" she screamed.

That took James by surprise. "Petunia? Who's Petunia?"

"My sister," Lily grumbled. "She doesn't like that I'm a witch."

"She doesn't . . ." James laughed, "That is the most absurd thing I've ever heard. Why would she not like that you're a witch?"

Lily shook her head, "You don't know Petunia. She needs everything to fit into neat little boxes and, well, I'm a round peg."

"I . . . what? A round peg?"

Lily waved it away, "Muggle phrase."

James nodded and thought for a moment before standing up, setting down his stuff in the chair he had been sitting in, and walking over to where Lily was sitting on the couch, taking the seat beside her, "Fuck her."

Lily turned her head and looked at James in surprise, "What?"

"Fuck her and her square boxes! You are one of the most brilliant witches I have ever met and she should be proud to be your sister, good marks or no."

Lily peered at James with a curious look, "I'm one of the most brilliant witches you've ever met?"

James blushed but very resolutely said, "Yes."

A mischievous grin made it's way onto Lily's mouth, "Am I up there with your mother?"

Furrowing his brow in confusion, James replied "Yeeeeesss . . . ? Why are you asking?"

Lily shook her head with a smile, "A girl always strives to be as great as the mom of the boy she fancies."

"You . . ." James flushed crimson.

Lily smirked, "Well, it had to happen eventually. I couldn't resist you forever." She threw him an unnecessary wink.

James looked at her in wonder and Lily didn't know if it was his surprise or the late hour that made his jaw loose, but he asked, "Can I kiss you?"

Lily nodded, trying not to smirk again as James leaned in and pressed his lips to her's, both of their eyes fluttering shut.

They pulled back after a moment and leaned their foreheads together, their eyes still closed as they simply breathed each other in.

"Apple pie. Apple pie and warm fires and ink stains."

James opened his eyes and looked at Lily with confusion, "Pardon?"

Lily opened her eyes too and smiled, "It's what I smell in that 'stupid love potion' you're doing your Potion's homework on. It's what you smell like."

"Oh." James thought for a minute, closing his eyes again. "You smell like . . . lavender, mint, . . . books, . . . and is that . . . hay?"

Lily giggled, her eyes closed once more, "I was in the owlery earlier."

James laughed and leaned in to capture Lily's lips in another kiss. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she kissed back and his wound around her waist, pulling her to his chest.

Laughter bubbled between their lips and they separated, Lily laying her head against James's chest and James resting his chin on the crown of her head.

"You know, you have some really nice muscles. Very warm and comforting."

James threw his head back and laughed before kissing the top of Lily's head. "Thank you, love."

Lily smiled and closed her eyes, "I could stay here all night."

"If you're not carefully, I might just make you," James replied with a teasing tone.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

James chuckled, "I'm very comfortable right now and I don't see any reason for you to move."

Lily rolled her eyes, despite the fact that James couldn't see it, but just snuggled closer, "We do still have our homework to finish."

James groaned, "We can do it during breakfast tomorrow. I'm too tired to do it right now."

"Then we should pack it up so you can go to bed."

James pouted but loosened his arms around Lily, "Fiiiiiiiine."

They stood up and packed up their bags before starting to walk to their dorm rooms. At the separation point, Lily pecked James on the lips and gave him one last smile before going to her dorm.

James had just slipped under the covers after putting on pajama pants (the castle was too hot this time of year, almost to summer, to wear a shirt) when he heard a soft knock at the door. Not wanting to wake his roommates, he whispered, "Come in."

The door creaked open to reveal a red-haired girl in shorts in a T-shirt. Lily took a step into the room, closed the door as quietly as possible behind herself, and padded over to James's bed.

"Can I sleep in your bed tonight?" she asked, looking incredibly innocent as she stood there in her pajamas with her hair creating a halo in the moonlight.

James melted into a pile of goo and the corner of his mouth quirked up, "Yeah." He pulled back the covers and Lily crawled in. He drew the covers back around them, pulling Lily closer, and gave the already sleeping girl in his arms one more peck on the cheek before closing his eyes and dropping off.

They woke up in the morning to the Marauders surrounding James's bed and snickering. James never heard the end of it.

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><p><strong>Thanks everyone for reading! I love reviews, but I would love especially if you would hop on over to Claudia's page and wish her a Happy Birthday! If you're a guest reader or feel like that's too much work, you can leave a review on here with the message and I'm make sure she gets it. <strong>

**Happy Birthday, once again, Claudia! I hope you liked it.**

**Have a great weekend, everyone!**

**-Katherine**


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